The hydrogenation of nitriles has been taught using a number of transition metal catalysts such as those of cobalt or nickel (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,375,003; 4,552,862; 4,845,298; 5,075,506; and 5,130,491). The use of a catalyst derived from an iron compound in the catalytic hydrogenation of adiponitrile is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,153.
The use of molybdenum nitride in the temperature programmed reduction or hydrogenation of acetonitrile has been reported by G. W. Haddix et al., in Journal of Physical Chemistry 1989, 93, 5859-5865.
G. Vertes et al. and coworkers reported in Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin, II, 1973, pp. 1400-1402, the selective catalytic behavior of tungsten carbide in the liquid-phase hydrogenation of aromatic nitro-, and nitroso-compounds as well as for aliphatic nitro-compounds and for quinones.
Two quite recent disclosures regarding what is termed "evidence for nitrile hydrogenation" on W(100)-(5.times.1)-C is provided by J. G. Serafin and C. M. Friend in Journal of Physical Chemistry 1988, 92, 6694-6700, and Journal of Chemical Physics 88(6), Mar. 15, 1988, 4037-4045. In these publications the W(100)-(5.times.1)-C surface was chosen as a model tungsten carbide surface. While these workers described N--H bond formation on absorbed acetonitrile, which is referred to as "nitrile hydrogenation" the actual species formed was CH.sub.2 CNH, rather than CH.sub.3 CNH or CH.sub.3 CNH.sub.2, thereby demonstrating that the actual reaction was a 1,3 hydrogen shift reaction rather than an actual reduction or hydrogenation. While these papers demonstrate that tungsten carbide can activate nitriles for a 1,3 hydrogen shift reaction they do not teach the actual reduction of nitriles to amines on tungsten carbide. They also do not show the formation and recovery of primary, secondary or tertiary amines. These papers also show formation of an intermediate isomer to acetonitrile, namely CH.sub.2 CNH at temperatures of 190.degree. to 400.degree. K, with its partial decomposition to acetonitrile above 400.degree. K, and partially to carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen at 700.degree. K.